SEO Myths Vs. Realities in 2016

Search engine optimization is a game that never ends, because the rules are always changing. Sometimes the old rules are blurred, while other times they become obsolete. But it is tough to break years’ old habits, which is why so many SEO experts will continue to persevere with outdated strategies.

This practice is understandable, because the SEO world is always going through massive changes. If we look back to a few years in the past, it was unimaginable that mobile websites or smartphone applications would be playing such a key role in the SEO content being created.

Having a quality SEO strategy for this year means letting go of old ideas or myths, and accepting the way things are now. The way we interact with the Internet is constantly changing, which means SEO experts must evolve their practices too.

Myth: Written content is still the most relevant type of content.

Reality: Video content is now equally important.

Even though written content still has importance, it is no longer the king of content. Video content has, at the minimum, pulled even with written content. Some may even say it has surpassed written content in its importance. The truth is that videos are much more engaging and easy to share on sites, forums, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. And the search engines are beginning to reflect this reality. Having organic video content is now crucial.

Myth: Desktop sites are more important than mobile sites.

Reality: Mobile sites are much more important than desktop sites, especially for certain industries.

The majority of people accessing the internet are doing so with their mobile phones. Even a few years ago, mobile sites were novelties and nice additions to a main desktop site. But this is no longer the case. Google even provides priority to sites that have quality mobile versions. It is time for SEO experts to embrace this situation and change their policies accordingly.

Myth: It is not important to build inbound links to my site.

Reality: Inbound links have never decreased in importance.

It may be easy to think that link building is no longer as important as it was, given the popularity of mobile sites. But this is a completely incorrect assumption. Even though back links are not as important as they were in the past, they are still hugely important. They will play a big role in improving your site’s SEO ranking. The best SEO experts will use the popularity of mobile sites and social media to expand their backlink network even more.

Myth: Social media marketing and SEO are not relevant to each other.

Reality: Social media marketing is now a vital part of internet marketing strategies.

It is hard to overstate how much the world’s relationship with the internet is altered by social media. Facebook and Twitter are the jumping point for content for a lot of people. If you are impressing others with your content through social media, you can have a huge amount of links that are leading back to your site. With more links and traffic, you increase your SEO ranking.

Google also has a relationship with Twitter where they display tweets in the search results and rankings. Google also indexes Facebook pages, which means Facebook pages are coming up as results to search queries. Social media marketing is intertwined with SEO and internet marketing.

Myth: SEO is something I should worry about every couple of years.

Reality: You should worry about SEO all the time.

SEO is a game that changes at lightening speed. The days of only worrying about a desktop site are long gone. Not only are you arranging your desktop site, but you also have to worry about mobile sites and your social media platforms. Big changes were made by Google to their algorithm in 2016 – and real time updates are expected throughout the year. You can either keep up with these trends, or let your competition gain a leg up on you.

Myth: You do not need to bother with the relationship between mobile apps and SEO.

Reality: You must prepare your mobile sites and apps for SEO in the same way you would your desktop site.

As mentioned above, most people are viewing the internet through their tablets and smartphones. This means mobile apps are more important than ever. SEO experts believe that mobile apps will soon gain the same importance as mobile sites, because users want a dedicated, graphically intensive experience that is easier to provide through apps. Google already indexes apps, while the best SEO experts are filling apps with links that are easy to view and share.

Myth: My webmaster can deal with SEO.

Reality: You need an expert with the right skillset to deal with SEO.

Updating a blog or site on an infrequent basis is not good enough anymore, especially if you are trying to maintain your search engine rankings. Content consumption rates are higher than ever, which means internet users are becoming more demanding too. Having constantly developed and updated content is crucial if you want to maintain and build your audience. This means investing in mobile sites or apps, ensuring your site is always displaying new articles, pictures and videos in the right manner, and ensuring the site looks great on all platforms.

Social media and SEO integration is also crucial, while you must keep up with the real-time updates Google makes to their algorithm. Old habits must be consigned to the garbage bin, while you need to focus your energy on the present and future of SEO.

This SEO game is changing at a rapid rate. Those who keep up will find success, while the others will be left by the wayside.